Mine leaders are under significant pressure to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) due to the demands of investors, the community they operate in, governments aiming to meet regulatory targets, customers seeking to reduce their environmental impact and the dynamic environmental regulation landscape. The reality is that mining and resource extraction are critical to maintaining our quality of life and powering the green energy transition. As demand for minerals and metals rises to drive this transition, mine executives face the challenge of maximizing throughput while simultaneously reducing GHG emissions across the life of the mine.
New technologies and processes are being tested and applied in a range of areas. For example, Codelco, a large copper miner, is using solar power at one of its operations in Chile and BHP and Fortescue Metals have reportedly invested into renewable energy to power their operations and trialing electric fleets. However, one of the biggest wins will come from reducing the GHG footprint of the processing plant. And this has put significant focus on the concentrators.
Unboxing the Jameson Concentrator
At Ausenco, we pride ourselves on continuously seeking to find better ways to deliver on our clients’ needs and expectations. We have a team focused on assessing, testing and implementing new technologies.
One technology that is gaining increasing attention is the Jameson Cell—a high-intensity froth flotation device. It was first tested in the late 1980s in Queensland, Australia. Since then, it has expanded from cleaner flotation to be integrated into full-concentrator flow sheets. It also uses a different approach to introducing the feed and air together which cuts out the need for air compressors and mechanical agitators, thereby reducing the power requirements and operating costs. It has been proven to be able to process the same or greater throughputs with less equipment and less energy input, while maintaining high levels of metallurgical performance.
Ausenco evaluated how a full Jameson Cell Concentrator compared to conventional concentrators in terms of GHG emissions and carbon footprint across the life of a copper mine. So, we partnered up with Glencore Tech – the owners of the Jameson Cell technology – to deliver an independent comparison report. We stripped out unknown variables (such as site topography) to normalize the comparison. And we focused on Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. Here’s what we found.
Exploring the findings
The results demonstrate that the Jameson Concentrator approach reduces power consumption by 35% which has a significant impact both on operating cost and on GHG emissions during operation of the plant. With less equipment in the flow sheet, the Jameson Concentrator required 78% less steel and 19% less concrete compared with the equivalent conventional concentrator.
The difference in terms of GHG emissions was significant. We based our study on a recent copper concentrator project in North America with a throughput of 14 Mtpa. We examined both the construction phase and a 15-year operating lifespan. What we found was that the Jameson Concentrator resulted in a 61% reduction in Scope 3 emissions during construction. Using our test case, that would equate to a savings of more than 2,500 t CO2e.
Yet, the real long-term emissions impact comes from the operations side. The Jameson Concentrator proved to deliver around 42% lower emissions during operations versus a conventional concentrator. But over the lifespan of mine, that can really add up: our test case suggests a savings of more than 75,000 t CO2e over 15 years, more than 30 times the emissions savings during construction.
Three key takeaways
What can mine leaders and executives take from our research and assessment? Here are three big (technology-agnostic) takeaways:
- Include GHG emissions into your trade-off studies. Investor, regulator and public expectations regarding environmental stewardship continue to rapidly evolve. Understanding your emissions trade-off decisions will become increasingly important over time. It is worth including GHG emissions data into your studies from an early stage.
- Be open to alternate technologies and ideas. The mining industry is changing faster than ever before. New concentrator technologies are not the only innovations helping to reduce costs, resources and GHG emissions. Indeed, there are a growing number of new technologies with proven track records that should be considered when planning or expanding a mine.
- Keep looking to find a better way. While tried-and-true is often a sound approach to mine development; innovation, creativity and a passion for continuous improvement are key to creating value in the mining industry. At Ausenco, we are always looking to find a better way – for our clients, our communities and our planet.
Contact us with any questions.